Diary symptoms and conditions

In reference to my Sept. 20th posting, I have been asked to describe the
"warning signs" of oncoming seizures that I have. To review, I was struck by lightning while serving in the Marine Corp in 1977 and have had seizure disorder and myoclonic jerks and inner ear problems since that time. As I stated in the post on the 20th, I have been tried on "all" of the seizures control medications and they all make it difficult to function as an educational administrator. The best medical advice I ever received was to keep a diary of everything I could remember leading up to a seizure. This included any activities I had been doing, what I had eaten, what time of day it was, any stress or problems that I was having. We are all different and probable all have different triggers. In my case, I learned that as a seizure approached, I would become more light headed or dizzy (I have inner ear problems all of the time secondary to being struck by lightning, I just recognize when they are getting worse) The ringing in my ears increases, (I also have tinnitus all of the time also from the lightning, and over time you get use to it, but I can notice when it increases) When these signs start, I stop what I am doing regardless of what I am doing, If I am in a meeting, I take a break, if I am driving (I drive locally or with someone with me) I get off the road. (In 30 years, I have never had a seizure while driving and actually have never had a traffic ticket in that period, I try to be very carefully with what driving I do, knowing that one occurrence will cost me my licenses.) I try to rest and be quiet, if the dizziness and tinnitus continue, I take two ten Mg Valium tables and lay down. If I am by myself, I will call some and let them know where I am and how I am doing. The valium probable stops the seizures about half of the time and I believe that it always make them less sevier. I have warning signs once or twice per week, and have to take valium on the average of once per week, and will have a gran mal seizure once or twice per month. With Lamictal, I believe the seizures are less frequent and less sevier as long as I keep the dosage low enough to not block my warning signs. I believe everyone's seizure disorder is different and some may be like mine and be able to learn warning signs by keeping good records of what you can remember leading up to the seizure. Always do everything under the direction of a Dr. that you trust and have faith in. The more information you can give your Dr. the better your individual treatment can be developed. If you can develop warning signs, the seizures are much easier controlled and you can live a much better quality of live.

Gran-Mal Seizures and myoclonic jerks for over 30 years as a result of being struck by lightning while serving in the Marine Corp. Have tried "all" of the medications and most made it difficult to do my civilian job. (School Administrator) The best advice I every received was to keep a diary and record everything I could remember happening to me before a seizure. By doing this I have been able to develop a warning system of oncoming seizures. (Same think as most people saying they can feel a headache coming on,) I can live with the myoclonic jerks as they only occur once or twice per day. The seizures while at work or driving are a different matter. (I have warning signs for seizures on the average of once or twice per week, and around one per month goes into a seizure.) Most of the medications other than Lamictal cover up my warning signs and I simply refuse to take them. I work very close with my family Dr. who understands my case better then most Neurologist I have ever had. Neurologist want to give any drug at a strength that will stop all seizures and that can and often does result in side effects that prevent normal live. Lamictal in low dosage, 25mg twice per day may make my seizures less sevier. Any higher dosages causes many of the side effects others have described on this site, but for me the biggest problem is that it blocks my warning signs of oncoming seizure. I get 20 to 30 minutes warning of oncoming seizures and many times can avoid a seizure by just stop doing what I am working on and taking a break and resting. If that does not work, I take two 10 Mg Valium and find a soft place to lay down, the valium will stop or lessen my seizure and I will sleep for one or two hours, and wake up. Sometimes I will have a seizure after taking the valium, but I am in bed or resting and usually under observation. My key has been to learning the warning signs of an oncoming seizure in time to get to a safe place and by always having the valium with me. We are all different individuals and our medical problems are different. Share everything you can remember with a Dr. you trust and attempt to develop warning signs of an oncoming seizure is the best advice I can give after over 30 years of living with a seizure disorder.

I have isolated the additive "Silicon Dioxide" which is contained in many snack foods, gravy mixes, fixodent etc. as the cause of Extreme Joint Pain through a careful diary of the appearance of symptoms and my intake. Recently while carefully avoiding any packaged goods I again developed these symptoms. After carefully reviewing everything Including the Ingredients on the label of the Gax X strip I used, I decided to continue the research of the strips "online" and II found this:
Ingredients
Calcium Phosphate Tribasic , Colloidal Silicon Dioxide , D&C Red 30 Aluminum Lake , Dextrose , Flavors , Maltodextrin , Propylene Glycol , Soy Protein Isolate

Thank you all guys - I didn't know we were so many... I come from Europe (here and especially in my country, we are not that concerned with lactose intolerance - we generally try to avoid diary food) so on my last trip to US-I bought these pills hoping I can finally eat diary... The first week I didn't feel anything, but after taking a pill every second day approximately (I try not to eat diary as often) everything changed - I started vomiting a lot as if I had food poisoning! Something that irritates me the most is that I started doubting that something is really wrong with my stomach and even went to a doctor, but after I vomited few times in a row after taking the pill, I finally stopped taking the pills! I am very content I found this forum - now it's crystal clear what was wrong with me all these days... Thank you all!

i had the mirena fitted just after my daughter was born in feb07 ive been thinking its all in my head or i have a serious illness i went on this web site after typing in brown discharge and found i have all the side effects i have been worried sick about, the painful breasts terrible aches in my upper and lower ribcage and back very bad mood swings just generally pissed off. thank god for this web site im gonna get it taken out, keep a diary and see if all these illnesses go, which i hope so!

42wmoses-
I know what you are going through. It is so frustrating to be on a birth control pill that causes annoying physical and emotional side effects. I would say to take a month off the birth control and see if anything changes. Try not to alter your eating or exercising habits too much because that will change the results that you can notice.
If you decide to stay on Loestrin 24, I'd suggest to keep a diary for a few months. Mark down symptoms on specific days etc. to later observe any possible trends that might be related to hormone levels based on the point in time of your cycle.
Also, Nuvaring is very new and new drugs should always be used with extreme caution. What I'm trying to say is, the full range of side effects (especially the long-term ones) have not been studied yet. It is impossible to know what it may cause down the line. Personally, I don't like the idea of a foreign object sitting inside of my vagina for three weeks out of each month.
I know only one person who uses Nuvaring and she has not had any issues with it. I guess it is just important not to forget that it is in there and must be removed on a specific date. Below I have inserted the COMMON risks/side effects associated with using Nuvaring (from the Nuvaring website):

The common side effects reported by NuvaRing® users are:

Vaginal infections and irritation
Vaginal secretion
Headache
Weight gain
Nausea

I am prone to urinary tract infections and vaginal infections so this is something I would never use. If you do not have a history of those types of things, maybe it would be something worth trying. Personally, I just feel as though putting something like that inside of your vagina for three weeks continuously while being sexually active can introduce a great deal of infectious bacteria into that area.

I hope that my opinion was at least somewhat helpful. If you are still unsure of what steps to take with birth control...I would suggest making an appointment to sit down with your gynecologist to discuss all of your options. They usually have a strong grasp on what is the best for each individual patient based on history, age, current health etc. etc. because of experience with many other patients on the same medications and the imense amount of research that physicians obtain on a regular basis.

Good luck!

Few days ago I posted how awful I felt ....an extreme tiredness and generally feeling rotton!Had a good cry too!Well today I have my period well brown smelly(sorry Girls)discharge.Im presuming its my period ...I don't really know as I get spotting on and off and don't make note of the dates.Im thinking its only been 3 weeks since my last though!!!Im in good form now although still feel bloated.Im presuming it was pmt I had??????
Ive never suffered with that before ,even when on the pill for 8 years.
I was 100% getting it removed earlier this week but now Im thinking Ill keep a diary and after a couple of months decide.....
Although...gut instinct ....get it out!!
Now Im thinking why has this discharge got an odour....I don't have symptoms of thrush...and I have only one sexual partner,my husband!Gee....im still confused...yes confusion might be another side effect....Oh NO!!!!

I have Mirena for little over a year. My body fells tired and pregnant. I didn't gain weight but didn't lose the baby fat either. I am going to the OBGYN in the next hour for the removal. I am scared for the results that I will get right after, ( like heavy painful bleeding)... but my hope is not to have this thing hurt my uterus or have a pregnancy that could be complicated for the use of the iud.I will keep a diary here, hope to help somebody. Please, girls, wish me luck

Has anyone had extreme heavy bleeding/clots after having the Mirena removed? This is day 3. The last time I had such heavy bleeding I had just had my son. When do you start to worry about the bleeding?

"OH MY GOD"!! Is all I have been able to say since I learned about this on Friday!!! Reading all these posts is just like reading a diary about my 5 1/2 yr old daughter. She was diagnosed with asthma when she was just 2yrs old....continual trips to the ER because she was wheezing, breathing sounded like she had swallowed something and it was lodged in her wind pipe, lethargic, high temp, etc only to be told it was bronchitis, pneumonia, a viral infection etc., until she was referred to the pulmonologist and he told me it was asthma, never the other diagnosis she was given, so he put her on SINGULAIR. Shortly after she started SINGULAIR she became an entirely different little girl. Threw "OUTRAGOUS" tantrums/fits, was "wild", moody, poor attention, uncontrollable, angry, screamed and cried all the time, very defiant.......just this being that I didn't recognize as my sweet affectionate little baby. Even the "please and thank you's" and the hugs and kisses just because eventually slipped away. I sit here today recalling the day that I was at my desk at work and called this doctor's office, spoke to the nurse and said to her..."I think that SINGULAIR is causing her to act like a totally different person, something is wrong, this is what she is doing, and I told her the symptoms, I think it is the medication"!! She spoke with the doc and called me back only to say, "It cant possibly be the medication, it isn't a steroid type med that causes behavioral problems, it has to be something else"! So knowing how well controlled her asthma was on this medication, I "fell for it"....who wants to see their child in such distress with asthma (not knowing that I was in fact right about the med being the culprit)?! Months went by and her behavior got increasingly worse, she would literally whip things off a counter with one stroke of her hand, she has knocked over 20 pound 4 foot high stereo speakers and took a big chunk out of my wall, she has hit and bit, the list goes on and on-keep in mind she was just 2 at the time. She was very unsafe to be allowed to play outside with out being in a fenced in back yard because she would dart to the street and pay no mind to that scared mom yelling for her to STOP, it was like she was in another state of mind, a different person, you could look at her face and see in her eyes, my baby just wasn't there. When she was 3 she got upset at day care lodged a toy at the teacher and jumped over the loft for no reason. She has been knick named "klutz butt" because she has been so unstable on her feet, she trips over her own 2 feet, falls all the time and we just look at her like, how in the world did ya do that---is that related to SINGULAIR as well?!?!? She was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, worked with an OT/PT, her behaviors got increasingly worse and I had no idea what was going on with her, I took her to see neuropsychologist and was told definite sensory issues, possible obstinate defiant disorder, taught how to do "the hold" when her behaviors got so out of control that either she was going to hurt herself or someone else, she has torn her room and the house apart in these fits of rage, at 4 took her to see a child counselor and told "Oh classic ADHD for sure"! All along I have told people I just don't feel in my heart that ADHD is what is going on with her, I think it is something else...her kindergarten teacher commented that her abilities in school are inconsistent, I note now that after her dose increased she forgot everything she knew academically and people thought I was crazy when I told them yes, she knows her ABC's, can identify numbers, etc! The behavioral things that this girl has done are just sooooo unexplainable and to now see all the posts that others who have loved ones on this drug have dealt with brings some relief to my mind to know that I am not crazy! but it brings deep sadness and anger to know that I suspected it to be the SINGULAIR early on and did not go with my gut and take my child off this drug!! She has been on this med since she was 2, she is now 5 1/2. In September 2007 her doctor suggested she be taken off SINGULAIR and put on Flovent because Flovent covers better......I was too scared to take her off (imagine that) so she did not come off SINGULAIR until January of this year- BEFORE I became aware of the risks. I have a strong glimpse of my baby again.....less and less of these horrendous fits she used to throw, less crying and screaming, her breath doesn't have that wrenched smell, she is doing much better in school, easier to get along with, is happier these days. I am now struggeling with the fact that after these last 3 1/2 years of literal turmoil and having been ridden with such anxiety of raising this child that acted like such a monster thinking that she was always going to be this uncontrollable child with all this anger and it would only get worse as she got older.............it's now a habit of being on the defense all the time, waiting for the next shoe to drop.....but that is over! so now we have to re-adjust our life....this is a horrible feeling to know that this medication has ruined the first forming years in my child's life and strained the bond between her and I.
Where do I go from here??? Do I call her doctor and start screaming at him? Do I call an attorney?? What do I do??? I know what I have done is thank GOD that I have the opportunity now to regain my sweet little baby and pray to Him that there are no lasting side affects from SINGULAIR!!!
If someone knows what it is that we are to do please feel free to comment me.

Take it with a huge meal that has both creamy diary to coat the stomach and meat to delay the digestion of the food - a meal that stays in the stomach long enough until the drug is absorbed will help.

I had my Mirena inserted on June 20th and finally on August 15th I stopped bleeding and no discharge. I know that my body is reacting to the constant hormones that this thing gives off unlike the birth control pill where you have the 7 days of no hormones. I have cramps every now and again and the back ache is bad sometimes. I plan on giving it until six months because I know the 3-6 month time frame is what the dr says. I get the headaches to or dizziness, but it's not that bad. I actually keep a diary since the first day of insertion: discharge, and side effects so when I go to the dr for a follow up I can have back up to everything I tell him.

Hi everyone,
It's exactly 7 weeks today post yasmin. I have to say I have been feeliing really great. My anxiety has been pretty much non existant. Except for last fri. I started to get some of the beginning signs of an attack, but I just turned the radio up breathed deeply and focused on something else, and sure enough it never came on.

I had been keeping a diary of my progress day by day, and sure enough the last anxiety attack I had was exactly the same time of the month as the slight one last fri. to the day and actually to the hr. It's quite interesting, so I'm sure it all has to do with hormone levels.

As for the weight gain, it's still not budging, however I feel less heavy, if that makes sense. I'm still swollen. It's on and off, where my hands are huge and my ankles are huge, but it's starting to be a little bit less frequent. I have found that If I have a glass of wine or something normally the next day it's really bad. I'm thinking it's going to take a few months to get regulated.

I have so much more engerty. I'm still taking Bikram Yoga 2 times a week which I think really helps with no anxiety and stress. It's an hr. and a half of focusing on yourself and your body nothing else. I strongly suggest yoga. I never did it before this but I don't know why because it's really great. I'm also running or walking as well, which a few months ago, was a huge struggle to just get up and move my legs.

So I guess I'm a work in progress, I just can't wait for the day that I'm 100% myself and back to my normal weight. If anyone has any other tips in dropping the weight gain that would be great. Just a reminder I gained 30 lbs very quickly in about 4 months.

Thanks,
Hill

hi Hawkhillmom,
I too stumpled upon this post I was on Yasmin for over 3 yrs. and had gone to the dr.'s about 10 times, it wasn't until the second to last dr. I saw, that I realized it could be Yasmin. He said Yasmin was high risk for blood clots. So after the appt. I just did a quick search I typed in my symptoms and sure enough Yasmin came up

I was also prescribed antibiotics in case I had a virus or chest infection. Hang in there, I have been off for about 6 weeks and day by day I feel better. Some days I regress, but if you read the other posts, it's going to take some time to get out of your body. I kept a diary for about a month tracking how I felt some weeks were good, some weeks were bad, but all in all I can say I'm about 80% better.

I was on Estrostep before Yasmin and for no reason at all I switched at my Gyno's suggestion. He said oh you have gained 5 lbs. on this pill Yasmin won't cause you to gain any weight. Now 30 lbs heavier, numerous dr.'s telling me I'm crazy and need to speak to a therapist, a lot of money wasted on Dr.'s visits, and pure stress over thinking I was dying of some disease no one could fine....I'm glad to be off of it. I'm think I'm going to stay off Hormones for a while. After this ordeal, I think I'm better off with out them. For now at least.
Hang in there it will get better.
hill

Hi ladies, just wanted to give an update. I've been off for 9 days now. Anxiety is much worse, and tingling much worse. Everything else is slowly getting better. I've been keeping a diary every day charting how I've been feeling.
I got results from blood panel and chest x-rays, and they say I'm fine. Doctor won't call me back to confirm it could be related to the Pill. Gyno, won't admit any correlations either.
Has anyone had their doctor admit this? Mine said, if I was still having problems, I could schedule another appt. to come in. (This is what he has been saying for the past 6 months, and nothing has come out of it) I'm thinking I'd rather save my money and not waste any more time scheduling a seventh appt. in the past 6 months.

So just wanted to let you know I spoke with one of my friends the other day and in passing I asked her how she was doing on Yasmin. She told me about 2 months ago, she started having chest pains. I told her to go off, since that's how my issues started.
So is anyone still feeling lousy or did anyone feel this bad so soon off the pill? One more thing, has anyone had any memory problems. Like putting things in weird places. Ex. I threw my salad away instead of the bag? Etc.
Thanks for the response.

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Well, if you would have read more of the posts here, you would know, that you're going through the same thing, so many women are going through AFTER getting off this "wonderful" pill... And no one can promise you that you will be healthy again wighin a few months but just give you some pep talk during these hard times! The only person who could tell, how long it takes to fully recover would be a woman, who has gone through the same as we and is finally back to where we all want to be again some day!!

I've been off Yasmin for 10 months now and still not back to totally normal and healthy again, although everything has gotten so much better than in January/ February this year. This times I nearly wasn't able to live any longer...

And still there are times, when I feel, like everything is easing up and nearly gone and then many symptoms hit me again. And that all seems to happen through a cycle.

You should have a look at the days, when you feel really bad with anxiety, heart palps, and so on and perhaps note them in a diary, so did I. And I can see that every 4 weeks I feel really bad again (my hormones are not back to normal at all, didn't have a period since easter this year!!!)...

all the best to you out there and stay strong everybody, I'm trying, too....

Silke

Cristy

Keep a diary of them I found they were worse around ovulation and when I was due a period, you may notice a pattern.

Joanne.

Atenolol decreases the heart rate. If your heart rate slows down, you will feel tired and lazy and lack energy. Take your blood pressure and your pulse and keep a diary and show your Doctor. You may need a dose adjustment.